Renting A Domain Name

Any time you buy a product only to have to pay again and again to keep it does not mean you've bought it, it means you rented it. So why does the term "buy a domain name" still get used? There is no option to buy it in the traditional sense when you register. The time varies from domain to domain, .com .net .org etc are rented on a year by year basis while .co.uk are rented for two. This must be great for registrars who continue to get repeat business but it feels a bit of a rip off to me.

Yes there's some administration involved in the transfer of money and ownership but that need only apply once at the initial time of registration, everything else is just make work for more money. How much of this is automatic? I'd imagine almost all of it, which adds even more insult to injury knowing we have to pay an administration fee for the tasks performed by a script that can run unattended.

I understand the idea behind a temporary lease of a domain, as it helps avoid people or companies who buy a name to block others using it, then do nothing with it. If it was a real sale, the name would never become free. Why not change the rules so that you rent the domain for the first five years or so, and assuming you've kept renewing it it becomes your on the fifth renewal? Or offer the option to lease at the usual prices we see today, or buy at a price maybe five times the lease price? That way it keeps the barrier to entry the same and gives people the chance to make their site permanent.

Something we've seen a lot of growth in is "in memory of" pages on social networks like MySpace and Facebook. These are supposed to be permanent reminders of loved friends and family members who have died. Surely the last thing they want is to have to face the renewal process or lose the domain name. What happens if people think that someone else is taking care of it, and nobody does?

We need a better balance, or more restrictions on .org and .edu too, where only not for profits and education sites can use them. To put limits on the application process would be wrong and stifling, but having an abuse reporting system would work. This would allow anyone to register and set up a site on a .org or a .edu doing anything they want, but if a complaint is raised about their use being wrong, they can lose the domain in a heartbeat. This would allow the prices of both .org and .edu to drop drastically to reflect the fact that they are usually volunteer or education based and don't have a commercial revenues stream to pay for their site and the costs involved. Their money is spent helping others.

We already have an arbitration process to deal with cyber squatters sitting on a domain name of a trademark. The trademark holder invariably wins that dispute, so there's no concern there. We could also include a process where a bought domain left unused and dormant can be clawed back after a set time too. For that you'd have to define "dormant" or "unused", as "not updated in x months" does not mean "unused".